Bomb Squad and Closing Day

We always assure our clients that they can trust us to properly dispose of or rehome items they don't want, or maybe they don't know what to do with while moving out of a home. Usually, they tell us they'll think about it but don't think they will need the extra help.

During a time of transition, it is common to feel overwhelmed by the task of cleaning or clearing the last of the items from the home you are leaving. It might just be a few awkward pieces of furniture, some leftover items in the kitchen or mostly empty boxes and garbage. Or it could be the entirety of the house, minus what was needed to transition into the new home: clothes, personal items, dishes and a TV.

But it feels manageable for a time before it suddenly doesn't.

We often have a deadline for the transition, due to a pending sale of a home. Rather then feeling rushed or stressed out by asking friends or family to find time to help with a few things, we find many of our clients attempting to do it on their own. They don't want to be a bother, and they do not think it will take very long so they do as much as they can by themselves.

This is exactly why we are here throughout the whole process, even if the clients initially think they don't need our services for this portion of the process. Often times, there is nothing left to sort at this stage but to remove it from the home and clean for the new owners. By doing it on their own clients are:

• putting themselves at risk for injuring themselves lifting and moving heavy items

• increased risk of falling without anyone knowing where they are if they're coming back to a mostly vacant home to clean

• an increase in stress and anxiety during an already stressful time navigating a transition

At this point, we regularly check in with the client to remind them- they don't have to worry about whatever is left. We can take care of it and they can relax and focus on their new chapter! It might be a couple weeks before closing or it might be only a couple days before when a client calls and says "Ok, you can take care of the rest!"

What isn't typical though, is to get a call that there might be a couple of very old explosives in the garage and we are about to close on this home! The new buyer was notified, and the police department was consulted. We meant it when we told the client we'd take care of it for her, and we had no problem making those phone calls to come up with the safest and best solution.

Our client's late husband was a bit of a collector and so the garage held a few random things that were left to clear out. Because the buyer was interested in some items in the garage, it wasn't cleared out prior to closing, thankfully. What was looked over and no one thought twice about were two war trophies, innocently sitting on the floor of the garage. Photos were sent to the police department who responded with, "We're notifying the bomb squad, can we meet you there tomorrow?"

Everyone was signing on the sale of the home the next morning but to make sure the house was still going to be standing by closing, we decided to meet them first thing in the morning ;)

So, the bomb squad and members from the Air Force showed up at 8am! They investigated, x-rayed and cleared the items for a safe removal and returned to the military. Everyone made it to their scheduled closing on time, without a single hiccup.

It was very anti-climatic thankfully but the first time we've ever needed to call on the Air Force to make sure we could get to the closing table ha!

Our client loved the last hurrah in her late husband's memory after 4 decades in the home together, and she appreciated the closing of this chapter was an exciting one.

Not only did she not have to worry about what was left in the house, the items to donate to charity were donated and the house was cleaned and ready for the new owners, but she didn't have to stress about how to manage a situation that had the potential to be stressful and worrisome on her own. abiRiver was so happy to be apart of her transition and to be a resource she could count on no matter the situation!

Remember, abiRiver Consulting will take care of it all and we have a blast doing it 😂